Machine for printing labels



. Nov. 15, 1932. A. ANTOHNIE 1,887,910

MACHINE FOR PRINTING LABELS Filed Jan. 29, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l I INVENTOR 14/0/56 Anfo/he NOV. 15, 1932. ANTOINE 1,887,910

MACHINE FOR PRINTING LABELS Filed Jan. 29, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 15, 1932. A. ANTOINE 1,887,910

MACHINE FOR PRINTING LABELS Filed Jan. 29, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Nov. 1 5, 1932 UNITED STATES ALQISE ANTOINE, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK MACHINE non .PRINTING LABELS 7 Application filed January 29, 1932., Serial No. 589,552.

. This invention relates to improvements in machines for prlntmglabels, and relates more particularly to the type of machine illustrated in my prior patents, Numbers 7 84,375.

of March 4, 1914.

Objects Among the principal objects which the present invention has in view are: to provide a machine which will print labels accurately; to provide a machine which will print labels of different widths; to prevent the labels from leaving the drum; to avoid surface pressure on the labels immediately following the printing thereon; to provide a holding means for engaging the label at a part thereof which is not printed to utilize the edge of the label 7 as the part thereof which is held for retaining the label on the drum; to provide means to force the label into its position where held on the drum; to enable this forcing means to be readily removed and replaced as occasion requires; to utilize the rotation of the drum as a force to assist in retaining said means in engagement with the label; to prevent the machine from being operated in a reverse direction; to secure simplicity of construction and operation; and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description.

Drawings tion; V

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a top view broken away to remove the printing mechanism from showing therein;

Figure 7 is an elevation of the means for forcing the labels into the holding means on the drum;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view of the-label strip; 7 7

7 1905, and 1,106,178 of August away for showing certain details of construe- Figure 9 isa sectional view of a portion of the drum showing the label held thereby; and Figure lOis a similar view of a portion of the drum which has been spread to accommodate a wider label. i

I p r In the description In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in said drawings, the reference numeral 15. indicates a standard carrying a rotatable laterally projecting crankshaft 16, .7 on one end of which is a crank 17 at one side of the standard and on the other end of which is a drum 18 at the other side of the standard. At a plurality of points of the periphery of the said drum are arranged printing wheels 19 and 20, there being as many of these print; ing wheels as there are diiferent items to be printediupon the label. As my prior patents 7 enter into the details of construction of these ink. It will be understood that in printing labels of this character, a large number of labels are required having a certain imprint, all of the labels of one run through the machine'receivingth-e same imprint, and then anotherrun of labels is made all of which have another imprint. It will therefore be observed in Figure 8 that the same designa tions as to a lot number and size appear on the several labels therein shown on the frag- 9 mentary portion of the label strip.

1 In order to' accommodate the machine to print various runs of labels accurately and not confine the machine to only one width of label, the drum is of special construction and this construction constitutes an important featureof the present invention. At each end of the drum is provided a projecting flange in a radial direction from the periphery of the drum upon which the label strip-engages.

One of these flanges herein designated with reference numeral 22 is shown integral with the drum at one end thereof toward the stand ard 15. The other flange designated by numeral 23 is shown as an integral part of an end plate 24 for said drum. This end plate is in the nature of a wheel wherein the flange 23 appears as the rim carried by spokes 25 from a central hub 26 which is mounted upon said crankshaft 16. The provision of this end plate 24 enables the groove formed between the flanges 22 and 23 to be varied in width, as clearly shown by a comparison of Figures 9 and 10 so as to accommodate labels of different width. The flanges are prefers ably undercut so as to provide the dovetail groove clearly shown in Figures 9 and 10 and provide means by virtue thereof for holding the label strip at its side edges while passing under the printing wheels. This arrangement is of importance for preventing displacement and misprinting upon the label strip. 3

I pneferably provide a means for holding the end plate 24 against the drum by a yielding pressure. As here shown, the outer end of the shaft 16 is threaded and receives a nut 27 upon which is rotatably mounted a pressure collar 28 between which, and plate 24 is a spiral spring 29 the action of which is to press the plate toward the standard. I have shown a plurality of means for holding the end plate away from the drum when used with wider labels, such means being shown as a lever 30 pivoted as at 31 to a bracket 32 projecting from the standard adjacent the periphery of the drum. This lever 30 carries a fork 33 riding between collars 35 of an adjusting screw 36, said screw reacting at its threaded end against bracket 32 by passing through a suitable nut37 thereon so that the lever 30 may be swung to any desired extent. Projecting from the outer end of the lever 30 toward the drum is a roller 38, said roller engaging edgewise against the projecting portion of flange 23 on end plate 24. The roller may therefore be controlled to displace the end plate away from the drum any de-- sired amount *or may be swung out of contact with the flange so as to obtain the minimum size of label strip receiving groove in the periphery of the drum. As many of the holding means for thus displacing the end plate may be provided as found necessary or desirable.

At one point of the peripherv of the drum is provided a pin 39 projecting upwardly from the surface of the periphery of the drum which received the label strip. .The label strip is forced on to this pin at the proper point so that the print wheels will engage the label at the part whereof where. it is desired to make the impression. The

transverse line 40 on the drum in advance of the pin may conveniently be used as a to correspond tothe adjustment of the end plate of the drum. As here shown, one part of the guide such as the edge portion 42 is provided with one or more dowels 43 which enter corresponding holes in the other part of the guide, thereby maintaining the relative position of the parts when they are spread apart. An adjusting screw 44 may be provided for spreading the portions of the guide and returning them to juxtaposed position.

In order to force the strip of labels into the dove-tailed groove on the drum, 9. forcing means is employed shown in detail in Figure 7 Said means comprises a carrier 45 slidable in a direction radially with respect tothe drum to which end it is mounted in a slotted bracket 46.

The carrier mounts a pair of pivoted arms 47 and 48 thereon the outer ends of each arm carrying a roller 49 and 50 respectively. The center or pivotal mounting of the arms, the length of saidarms and the diameters of said rollers are proportioned so that the rollers may be brought into peripheral contact with the drum as shown in the dot and dash lines of Figure 7, but the arms are too long to permit the arms to assume a radial position and therefore the rollers cannot be swung past the point of cont-act with the drum. Preferably a train of gearing is provided from one arm to the other whereby a swinging moment applied to one arm is transmitted through the gearing to obtain a similar swinging moment on the other arm. The

train of gearing is such as to swing both arms toward the drum simultaneously or both arms away from the drum simultaneously. As here shown, arm 47 is fast with respect to a gear 51 while arm 48 is fast with respect to a gear52. Gear 51 is in mesh with an idler 53, whereas gear 52 is in mesh with an idler 54, these two idlers 53 and 54 meshing with each other. When the rollers are brought into contact with the label strip after the same has been applied on pin 39, the rotative action of the drum in contact with roller 50 will tend to swing the arm 48 mounting the roller in a manner to obtain tighter contact of the roller with the drum, and this action is transmitted through the train of gearing to also swing the second roller 49 into closer contact with the drum. This means will therefore positively and effectively force the label strip into the dovetail groove. As will Y be seen in Figure 6, the roller which is en whereas the second roller 49 has outer edge flanges in substantial engagement with the flanges of the drum so as to insure forcing the material within the under cut portions of the drum flanges.

It is a desirable feature of the present invention to prevent rotation ofthe drum in a backward direction, and means for that purpose have been shown, reference being had more particularly to Figure 4. The drum 18 is provided at its end toward the standard with a large gear substantially the diameter of the drum meshing with gears 56 for driving the print wheels. Upon the face of this large gear 55 next the standard is provided a dog 57 arranged in a peripheral direction with a sloping face or cam surface. A spring pressed pin 58 projects toward the gear and is adapted to be engaged by the cam surface of dog 57, said pin being thereby pressed outwardly against the action of the spring until it comes to the end of the dog, which it snaps by virtue of the dog having a perpendicular end thereat. This perpendicular end in conjunction withpin 58 prevents rotation of the gear ina backward direction whereas the sloping surface ofv the cam or dog permits free rotation in a forward direction.

I claim:

1. A device as characterized comprising a dove-tailed grooved drum for receiving a strip of labels to be imprinted, and means for varying the width of the groove to accommodate strips of varying width.

2. A device as characterized comprising a drum having a peripheral under-cut groove for receiving a strip of labels to be imprinted and means for varying the width of the groove to accommodate strips of varying width.

3. A device as characterized comprising a drum having a peripheral under-cut groove for receiving a strip of labels to be imprinted and means for varying the width of the groove to accommodate strips of varying width, and means for forcingthe strip of labels into said under-cut groove.

d. A device as characterized comprising a drum having a peripheral under-cut groove for receiving a strip of labels to be imprinted and means for varying the width of the groove to accommodate strips of varying width, means for feeding said strip to said drum, and means adjacent said feeding means for forcing the strip of labels into said under-cut groove upon leaving the feeding means.

5. A device as characterized comprising a grooveddrum for receiving a strip of labels to be imprinted, means for feeding the strip of labels to the drum, 'both the groove and I 6. A device as characterized comprising a drum having a peripheral under-cut groove for receiving-a strip of labels to be imprinted,

and means for forcing the strip of labels into said under-cutgroove.

-7. A device asjcharacter zed comprising a drum' having a peripheral under-cut groove for receiving a'strip of labels to be imprinted, and means for forcing the strip oflabels into said under-cut groove, said means comprising a rotatable and revolvable roller havingan orbit of revolution intercepted by said drum. I V

8. A device as characterized comprising a drum having a peripheral under-cut groove for receiving a strip of labels to beimprinted,

and means for forcing the strip of labels into.

said under-cut groove, said means comprising a pair of rotatable and revolvable rollers each having an orbit or revolutionintercepted by said drum.

9. A device as characterized comprising a drum having a peripheral under-cut groove for receiving a strip of labels to be imprinted,

and means forforcing the strip of labels into said under-cut groove, said means compris-- ing a pair of rotatable and revolvable rollers each having an orbit or revolution intercepted by said drum, and means for simultaneously revolving said rollers tobring them into contact with the drum and to remove them from contact with the drum.

10. Adevice as characterized comprising a drum having a peripheral under cut groove for receiving a strip of labels to be imprinted, and means for forcing the strip of labels into said under-cut groove, said means embodying a peripherally grooved plate concentric with said drum to rotate therewith, and

'means for inclining said plate toclose at one portion thereof upon said strip while being operated upon. 7

11. A device as characterized comprising a drum having a peripheral under-cut groove for receiving a strip of labels to be imprinted, and means for forcing the strip of labels into said under-cut groove, said means embodyinga plate-like member complementary to said drum and having a flange and undercut groove formed therein, and manually operable means for tilting said plate in relation to said drum to remove a portion thereof from said drum to provide means for enterlliU under-cut groove, said means embodying a plate-like member complementary to said; drum and having a flange and under-cut groove formed therein, manually operable I 5 means for tilting said plate in relation to said drum to remove a portion thereof from said drum to provide means for entering the strip in said groove While on saiddrum and for de' livering said strip from said groove after be ing operated upon, and means for guiding said strip upon and fromsaiddrum at points Where said flange is removedfrom said drum.

ALOISE ANTOINE. 

